Fishing report
Inshore– Right now, this weather has made for an interesting few days inshore. We saw a great bite of fish over the early part of last weekend but from Sunday till around yesterday it was pretty bleak with the heavy rain, high winds, and stirred up conditions. However, some toughed out the conditions and were able to put together some nice catches. Also, the dead cut bait on the bottom seems to be working best thanks to dirty water making it a little tougher for the fish to find the lures while the cut bait will attract them to you! The best weather day coming up looks like today and into Saturday and Sunday morning then we get another low that will disturb the weather again in the start of the coming week.
There is still some snook action in the passes, it is definitely dwindled a bit, but they are still ready to eat through the early part of the morning when the tide is moving. Look for those solunar major tidal periods which you can find on most tide charts. My favorite way to find out what day and time is best is using the smart fishing tides website by salt strong. Just google ‘smart fishing tides’ and you will find that site, or you can visit our website and click ‘fishing trips’ then ‘weather links’ and you will find that link under ‘tides and solunar information’ on that page. Once on the page, click the tidal location closest to where you plan to fish on the map, and you will have the best day, time, and weather for your next fishing adventure! This will help you dial in on when to drop your baits or cast your lures.
The redfish on the other hand have really kicked up in the past few weeks. We are seeing lots of great action around the area on the redfish. They are biting at night around the bridges and passes. During the day we are finding them around the flats, oyster bars, docks, and mangrove shorelines. They are loving cut pinfish or threadfins on the bottom along with those slow-moving plastic paddle tails and hard jerk baits. We have also seen a killer sunrise bite along the flats on the top water plugs like the heddon spook jr. Luke from salt strong has been catching plenty of nice redfish in the early morning around the flats on the top water plugs. However, keep in mind early morning and right around sunset are the best and really only times you utilize these lures and typically around shallower flats are best. Deeper waters and higher light conditions do not tend to work well with top water baits.
Black drum love this dirty water and we have seen a few nice ones caught recently around the local docks and bridges on shrimp weighted to the bottom or small crabs for bait. They will even take cut threadfin too from time to time on the bottom. These guys are great eating when they are a bit smaller, once they get big, they are not quite as good eating.
Flounder fishing has been steady through the area, nothing crazy but a few caught especially around the local docks, seawalls, and edges of the flats. Shrimp on the bottom work very well for the flounder or slow-moving soft plastics are great options too!
Trout have been biting decently before the weather. We were seeing plenty of them around the bridge lights and dock lights at night. Also, during the day the grass flats were producing good catches too. However, since the weather went bad, they are not as active until that water starts to settle a bit.
The mangrove snapper bite is still going well, these guys do not seem to quit and if you can get some baits down around the pilings your definitely in a good position to hopefully catch some nice snapper. They are biting well if the water remains warm. Lighter tackle and small hooks with a small piece of shrimp is a great way to target the mangrove snapper.
Near Shore & Offshore–Unfortunately, we have not been fishing for a whole week near shore or offshore due to weather! The waters have been rough, rains have been unpredictable, and winds have been too high. We are hoping that we can get out there today and tomorrow to take advantage of the decent weather we have today and great weather we have forecasted for Saturday. Issue is that due to this crazy weather the water may be too murky near shore to get the fish chewing. However, if you can get out there deeper you will have a much better chance of getting cooperative fish and great action here in this narrow weather window. Essentially behind storms like this the water must calm down and then clear up for the fish to start turning on. When they do, the bite is NUTS because they have not been feeding in the bad weather. However, knowing exactly when that happens is difficult but typically as soon as it calms down and then clears up is the best time. Also, the big structures are the best place to start like big ledges, rock piles, wrecks and springs is where the fish will be piled up. Just like people, when bad weather comes those fish seek shelter and the bigger the structure the more fish will be piled up on it trying to hide from the bad weather as it passes.
Near shore we caught some nice numbers of mackerel and even a few small kingfish trolling around near shore artificial reefs. This is a great sign of what is to come. We have our first cold front coming Sunday night that should help cool the water a bit and these heavy rains will also cool the water too. We may have an influx of mackerel coming soon and behind them will be the kingfish typically on the following full moon so perhaps by end of the month or start of October we could be seeing that start of the fall run starting up!
Plus, as the cold fronts mount up and start hitting, we will start seeing the hogfish bite pick up and the gag grouper picking up near shore too! Going to be a great time to get out there once this weather clears up for us. We are looking forward to our ‘fall’ time of year here in Florida where our fishery gets exciting and fish start moving around.
For more fishing reports, photos, videos and more check out Hubbard’s Marina on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or Snap Chat just simply search @HubbardsMarina and don’t forget our family motto, “If You’re too busy to go fishing, You’re just too busy!” Thanks for reading and checking out our report – Capt Dylan Hubbard, Hubbard’s Marina – Call or Txt me anytime at (727)393-1947 | https://HubbardsMarina.com
Upcoming up at Hubbard’s Marina
Trigger fish OPENED for a short season starting Sept 1st until end of day Oct 25th! Come join us for a long range trip for a chance at a big keeper trigger, these guys are GREAT eating fish!!
During the week a great time to visit! If your one of those who can escape during the work week this is the time of year to visit us. We have had super light loads during the week on our 5,10 and 12 hour trips! Plus, the 39 hours are averaging only 50-60% full lately too especially during the week.
Weekends are still much less busy then they were in the summer, so either way it’s a good time of year to get out on the water!
Mangrove snapper action picking up on our long range overnight trips, Plus we are seeing some big jacks too! Amberjack are only open until end of October so don’t miss out!
WE ADDED NEW 39 HOUR TRIPS in for the end of October on Friday October 23rd and also Tuesday October 27th and the Tuesday 10/27 trip is right before the full moon as well! Hoping you guys can book it up and join us for some great chances at gag grouper, amberjack, red grouper, mangrove snapper and MORE!
Don’t forget about our brand-new system that allows you to now TEXT OUR OFFICE if you’d rather not call us! Now you can call or text us at (727)393-1947 so for quick questions or updates or anything you can reach out even easier.
Fox 13’s Good Day Tampa Bay show has picked up a fishing segment with Capt Dylan Hubbard Scheduled for every Friday morning starting around 8:15am! These segments will have tons of fishing tips, tricks, updates and more. Please tune into Fox 13 on Friday mornings to watch the show and if you are not local, you can watch it LIVE on their website -> http://www.fox13news.com/live
Enjoy learning more about fishing? Attended a seminar or watched our LIVE Q&A show Sunday nights but want to see the tips and tricks in action on the boat? We have filmed a mangrove snapper, grouper and red snapper mastery course with Salt Strong and they built me my own private page to give my fishing friends steep discounts on these crazy cool courses… PLUS, you also have the opportunity to become an insider member and join the community with great giveaways, raffles, the strike score tool, spot dissections, tons of free fishing videos and tips for inshore, near shore and offshore and MORE this is a super cool family of anglers and the positivity and openness of anglers is wild in this group… in the community people share what they caught, when the caught it, what tide they caught it, what bait or lure they caught it one and often WHERE they caught it too… you HAVE to check this out if you like fishing: https://SaltStrong.com/Hubbard
Regular’s club
We are officially into the 2020 year and our 2020 regular’s club is solidifying. If you have not renewed your membership has become inactive and your discount is no longer working. Please make sure to call me and get set up again when you have time so that way your 2020 bookings will have your discount attached when you show up for your trips! We can sign you up via phone or in person, and it is always easier ahead of your trip.
If you are not a member, but you’d like to be we are doing our NEW member sign ups. Give me a call or email and we can talk about the clubs and get you signed up ASAP. Once you sign up your discount becomes active and stays active until December 31st, 2020!
Remember, you can now call or TEXT our main office line – (727)393-1947
Captain Dylan Hubbard
Vice president and Co-Owner
(727)393-1947 ext. 306
